This Should Be Easy

Alter your daily habits to include exercise, at least an hour a day, geared toward an event in the future, a triathlon in six months, a half marathon in five. Find a coach that believes in you and what you are capable of, that understands your issues and works with you to develop a plan of action to get you to the start line and allows you to finish strong and injury free. Find a group to work out and train with that both challenges you but that also understands you may not always be able to keep up. Find a partner that respects your efforts, that supports your goals even if they are crazy, and gets out there in the heat, the cold, the rain, and trains by your side.

This should be easy …

Throw out all the crap in your pantry and only eat real food. Shun the prepackaged health products being sold by friends and trainers at the gym. Buy the girl scout cookies being sold at the office but then give them back to the girls so they can resell them. Take the time to pack your daily lunches and snacks so that you are not swayed by the mountains of donuts, cakes, and other nonsense surrounding you at work each day. Do not give your hard-earned money to Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, and their ilk and instead use that money to buy the organic, healthy versions of their prepackaged food. They are not in it for your health. If you lose weight they would lose your business. Don’t fall into their trap.

This should be easy …

It’s a bike. Almost everyone can ride a bike, and being from Florida bike riding is a year round activity. Get on the bike and ride, to quote Queen. Every ride doesn’t have to be a personal best. Just ride and not worry about the miles, or the pace. Enjoy being outside, breathing the air, enjoying the company of those riding with you. Feel the pleasure of knowing that the bike moves because of what you are bringing to the party. 8 miles and hour or 18 miles an hour, your movement comes from what your body can produce. Revel in that … and just ride.

This should be easy …

Running is a natural state for us. We have been running since we learned how to walk. For some of us, running can be painful. It hurts our knees, it hurts our hips, it hurts our backs. But the thing is, not running is not going to fix any of that. Running helps you lose weights, which reduces the pounding your body takes, and removes the injuries. Running is the ultimate Catch-22. But we all can run … it may appear like walking to some of us … but it is movement … and movement is the key. We will not all be able to move at a 6:00/mile pace, or even a 12:00/pace, but we can all move … so move.

This should be easy …

Life puts challenges in our way every day, every year, that we walk this earth. Much like a race, a flat one is easy but quickly becomes boring without a few turns, a few stops, a few hills or mountains to get over. It challenges us, makes us stronger, builds our muscles, our minds, and our characters. No matter how much time it takes us, as long as we move forward, one step, one pedal stroke, one swim stroke at a time, we eventually will get over that hump. That mountain looks less imposing the higher we climb, and nothing replaces the feeling of accomplishment when we reach the top and look around us, viewing all we have been through to get there, and then look forward to the downhill side, picking up speed to give us momentum to get up the next mountain. Because there is always a next climb …